2017 Skoda Yeti spied

The second-generation Skoda Yeti has been spied undergoing evaluation on public roads.

While the current Yeti shares its parts with many vehicles throughout the Volkswagen Group, stylistically it’s very much its own thing. The new one though, clearly shares more than its mechanical package with new Volkswagen Tiguan.

At the front, the Yeti sports a new grille with paired vertical slats, similar to the one that will appear on the upcoming Kodiaq seven-seat SUV. The revised grille looks like it will be joined by a different bonnet, redesigned front bumper and, possibly, new headlights.

Along the sides, the roof, doors and pillars are taken directly from the Tiguan, although there may be detail changes to the body cladding and trim highlights.

Around the back, it looks as if there could be minor changes to the tailgate, bumper and tail-light design, but this prototype seems to be using the same set of lights as the second-generation Tiguan.

From what we can see of the interior, the Yeti will probably differ little from its German twin except for badging, trim packages, and the interface skin for the infotainment system.

Under the bonnet, the new Yeti is expected to use most of the turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines offered in the Tiguan. It’s not known if the Yeti will be offered with any the Volkswagen Group’s future plug-in hybrid drivetrains.

The second-generation Yeti will be a larger vehicle than the one currently in showrooms, with length growing from 4222mm to 4486mm, width increasing from 1793mm to 1839mm, and the wheelbase expanding from 2578mm to 2681mm.

Overall height will decrease though, from 1691mm to around 1632mm in front-wheel-drive models.

The decision to go with a Yeti that’s essentially a re-nosed Tiguan may be a result of cost cutting in the wake of the ‘dieselgate’ scandal.

It’s possible, though, that the decision was taken before Volkswagen admitted to installing emissions testing defeat devices on roughly 11 million cars with the EA189 turbo-diesel engine.

At the end of last year, Skoda confirmed that it had scrapped plans to launch a second-generation Roomster. Prototypes of the second-gen Roomster were spied earlier in 2015, and these cars were essentially a Volkswagen Caddy with a new nose grafted on.